Florida man accused of pushing teen mom to hire hitman to murder her 3-year-old son arrested on August 28
MIAMI, FLORIDA: A Florida man has been taken into custody in connection to an alleged murder-for-hire plot involving a teen mother who attempted to hire a hitman to kill her three-year-old son.
On Monday, August 28, Gamaliel Soza, 18, was arrested after he allegedly pushed Jasmine Paez, 18, to murder her own child as he tried convincing her by telling "The kid is the problem," according to The Independent.
Who is Gamaliel Soza?
Gamaliel Soza was taken into custody a month after Jasmin Paez was arrested on July 18 after she tried to hire a hitman from rentahitman.com.
The website is owned by a man named Robert Innes. When Paez tried to hire a hitman from the website, her request was flagged.
An arrest warrant affidavit explained that Paez submitted a picture of her son, an address, and a code phrase for the killer whom she hired. The phrase was "Put me in coach."
The teen mother's request was flagged and an investigator posed as a hitman to speak to Paez. She agreed to give $3,000 for anyone who would kill her child.
Why was Jasmin Paez pressured into killing her own son?
In a row of text messages mentioned in the affidavit, Soza allegedly wrote to the teen mother, "The kid is the problem. I hope you see that all I ever wanted was to free you."
The relationship between him and Paez remains unclear.
Disturbing text messages between the two suggested that he was trying to convince Paez to carry out the murder plan, according to Miami-Dade police.
"I told you about the kid, you won't do anything ... you do it, and I'll think about coming back," the man allegedly wrote.
As per the affidavit, the 18-year-old woman responded to him in a message and claimed that she "took her son to the woods and left him there to be eaten by the bears or drown in the water."
"[Soza] responded to her message by asking for a picture as proof," the affidavit further stated.
What are the charges against Gamaliel Souza and Jasmine Paez?
Soza, whose bond was set at $15,000, was taken into custody after he was accused of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and unlawful use of a communications device.
He was ordered to have no contact with the child or anyone who is under the age of 18.
Paez has also been ordered to stay away from her son and was charged with first-degree solicitation of murder and unlawful use of a communications device.
The teen mother had previously been granted a $15,000 bond.